Air-lift displacement-pump.



. F. 8-. MILLER.

AIR. LIFT DISPLACEMENT PUMP.

APPLIQATION IILED my 31, 1910.

987,679. Patented Mar. 21, 191-1.

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F. S. MILLER; AIR LIFT DISPLACEMENT PUMP.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 31, 1910.

Patented Mar.21,1911

3 SHEBTSSHEET 2- gvwe/wto'o Frank S, Miller.

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AIR LIFT DISPLACEMENT PUMP.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 31, 1910.

7, 79, 1 Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

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- mni'amz WWI/1M V FRANK S. MILLER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

AIR-LIFT DISPLACEMENT-PUMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Application filed May 31, 1910. Serial No. 564,226.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK S. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Air -Lift Displacement- Pump, of which the following is a specification.

In the operation of fluid pumping mechanisms comprising a pair of tanks into which the fluid flows by gravity and from which the fluid is discharged by air pressure introduced alternately into the tanks, it has l1eretofore been the custom to control the flow of fluid into and out of the tanks by means of various controlling members arranged within the tanks and dependent, in their operation, upon the level of liquid within the tanks. Such devices are very apt to get out of order and generally operate rather inefliciently by causing the use of a greater quantity of air than is absolutely essential for the discharge of the liquid.

The object of my present invention is to produce a controlling mechanism operable under any pressure and against any delivery head, for delivering to the tanks a definitely measured quantity of air just sufiicient to cause proper discharge of the liquid from the tanks.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a diagram on a very small scale, of the complete system; Fig. 2 an axial vertical section of my improved controlling mechanism; Fig. 3 a section on line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 a side elevation, and Fig. 5 a detail of the air valve.

In the drawings, 10 indicates an air compressor, and 11 and 12 the two tanks which are air tight except for the several pipes leading thereto and therefrom. Leading into tank 11 is a water supply pipe 13 and leading from the bottom of said tank is a water discharge pipe 14. Similarly tank 12 a D valve 22 mounted in a valve cylinder 23. The valve 22 is shifted by means of a stem 24 provided at its opposite ends with pistons 25 and 26 fitted within the valve cylinder 23. Leading into the middle of valve cylinder 23 is an air inlet pipe 27. Leading into opposite ends of cylinder 23 are air supply pipes 28 and 29 which lead from a threeway valve structure 31 supplied by an air pipe 32. To this point the structure is the same as is now commonly in use and needs no further special description.

Arranged above the cylinder 23 is a measuring cylinder 41 in which is mounted a piston' 42 provided With a piston stem 43. Pipe 27 is connected at its upper end with a port 44 which opens into a valve surface 45. Ports 46 and 47 also open into the valve surface 45 upon opposite sides of port 44 and the said ports 46 and 47 lead to opposite ends of the measuring cylinder 41. Arranged above valve surface 45 is a valve chamber 48 in which is mounted a D valve .49 which is seated upon the valve surface 45. Valve 49 is shifted by means of the stem 51 provided with pistons 52 and 53 at its opposite ends, said pistons being mounted in the cylinders 54 and 55 respectively. Leading into the outer end of cylinder 54 is a supply pasage 56 and leading into the outer end of cylinder 55 is a similar supply passage 57. These two passages are brought to a suitable valve surface 58 upon opposite sides of an exhaust port 59. Mounted on valve surface 58, within a valve chamber 61, is a D valve 62 controlled by a stem 63. Leading into valve chamber 48 from compressor 10 is the main air supply pipe 64, the pipe 32 connecting with this pipe 64. Leading from chamber 48 to chamber 61 is an unobstructed air passage 65. Stem 63 is provided with separated adjustable collars 66, 66 between whicha sliding collar 67 is adapted to play in an ordinary manner.

ratchet wheel 77. Wheel 77 carries a crank pin 78 to which is connected one end of a link 7 9, the opposite end of said link being connected to a lever 81 connected to the valve member of the three-way valve 31.

The operation is as follows: With the parts in the positions shown in the drawings, valve 22 forms a connection between tank 12 and atmosphere so that the air within said tank may flow freely therefrom as the water rises in the tank under the gravity head. At the same time air from the compressor 10 flows through the pipe 64 into chamber 48 and from thence through passage (35 into chamber 61 and thence through passage 56 into cylinder 54. At the same time air flows from chamber 48 through passage 47 into the left-hand end of cylinder 41 so as to drive piston 42 to the right, this movement of the piston driving the air within the right-hand end of cylinder 41 through ports 46 and 44 into chamber 23 and thence through port 17 and pipe 17 into tank 11 so as to drive the water in tank 11 out through pipe 14. During the advance of piston 42, lever 75 will cause a partial rotation of ratchet 77 and will move valve 31 to some extent. hen the piston 42 has reached the end of its stroke lever 69 has served to bring collar 67 into engagement with the left-hand collar 66 of stem 68 so as to shift valve 62 in a well known manner and cause a shifting of stem 51 to the left so as to reverse the position of valve 49, whereupon air within the left-hand end of cylinder 41 is delivered into tank 12. This operation is continued until the three-way valve 31 has been moved sufliciently to reverse the air connections for the valve cylinder 23 so as to cause a shifting of stem 24 to the left, thus connecting tank 12 with atmosphere and connecting tank 11 with chamber 23. This action will not occur until a certain definite number of strokes of piston 42 have been made thus delivering a definitely measured volume of air to one or the other of the tanks 11 and 12.

The intermediate valve 49 might be omit ted if desired or said valve mechanically operated by a movement of stem 43 but in practice I prefer the arrangement shown because it produces a smoother operation.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a displacement pump system, the combination with a pair of tanks having inlet and delivery pipes, and a compressor having delivery pipes leading into the two tanks, of a valve for controlling flow of air to and from said tanks, an air meter arranged between the compressor and said valve, and intermediate connections between said meter and valve for controlling the movement of the valve.

2. In a displacement pump system, the combination with a pair of tanks having combination with a pair of tanks having inlet and delivery pipes, and a compressor having delivery pipes leading into the two tanks, of a valve for controlling flow of air to and from said tanks, a measuring cylinder having an exhaust connection leading into the air valve, a piston mounted in said' measuring cylinder, a valve mechanism for controlling the flow of air into and from said measuring cylinder, and means connected with said piston for controlling the movement of said last mentioned valve.

4. In a displacement pump system, the combination'with a pair of tanks having inlet and outlet pipes for the liquid and inlet pipes for the air, of a main valve structure arranged in said air pipes and adapted to alternately connect the tanks with an air supply and with an exhaust, a measuring cylinder arranged in the air line between the compressor and main valve, a piston mounted in said measuring cylinder, means forcausing a movement of said piston to deliver successive volumes of air to the main valve, and means controlled by said piston for intermittently shifting the main valve.

5. In a displacement pump system, the combination with a pair of tanks having inlet and outlet pipes for the liquid and inlet pipes for the air, of a main valve structure arranged in said air pipes and adapted to alternatey connect the tanks with an air supply and with an exhaust, a measuring cylinder arranged in the air line between the compressor and main valve, a piston mounted in said measuring cylinder, a piston structure for shifting the main valve, air connections for said piston structure, a controlling valve in said air connections, and means controlled by a measuring cylinder piston for intermittently operating said controlling valve.

6. An air measurer for displacement air pump systems comprising an air meter, a delivery valve controlling two delivery passages, and intermediate connections between the meter and said delivery valve for intermittently shifting the delivery valve.

7. An air measurer for displacement air pump systems comprising a meter cylinder, a piston mounted in said meter cylinder, a controlling valve controlling two delivery passages, a connection between the exhaust of the meter cylinder and said controlling valve, connections between the .measuring my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, cylinder piston and the controlling valve for this 8th day of March, A. D. one thousand intermittently shifting the same, air supply nine hundred and ten.

connections for the measuring cylinder, and FRANK S. MILLER. [1,. s.] valve mechanism for controlling said air Witnesses: supply. ARTHUR M. Hoon,

In Witness whereof, I, have hereunto set THOMAS IV. MCMEANS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

